President Barack Obama's top military adviser and the allied military commander in Afghanistan said Thursday the White House decision to withdraw more than 30,000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of next summer was "more aggressive" and riskier than the two men initially were willing to accept.
Both Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander in Afghanistan, said in congressional testimony that they ultimately came to support the president's decision. But the comments suggest there was pointed internal debate and that the military didn't get all it sought.
"What I can tell you is, the president's decisions are more aggressive and incur more risk than I was originally prepared to accept," Adm. Mullen said.
The military officials worried that removing the troops before the end of the fighting season in Afghanistan, which tends to run from spring until autumn, would increase the risk that the Taliban could regroup.
In a speech to the nation Wednesday night, Mr. Obama said he had ordered the military to withdraw 10,000 troops by the end of 2011 and the remaining 23,000 forces that were part of last year's troop "surge" by the end of summer 2012.
The departure of the surge troops would leave the U.S. with about 70,000 troops in Afghanistan, and Mr. Obama indicated at least some of them would stay through 2014 as part of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization mission.
A day after the president's announcement, some divisions over it appeared within the Pentagon. Several military officials acknowledged the decision was not ideal, but insisted that it wouldn't prevent the military from continuing to pressure the Taliban and didn't threaten the success of the mission.
"Everyone had to give a little here, but it is manageable and we will make it work," said a military official.
One administration official played down the internal debate. Unlike the strategy review in September 2009 in which options involving surges of substantially different sizes were discussed, the policy differences discussed this month were relatively modest, the official said.
Still, one proposal seriously considered by the White House would have pulled troops out in March, according to an official. Defense officials expressed relief that Mr. Obama didn't choose that option.
On Thursday, Mr. Obama told members of the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, a military base in upstate New York, that the withdrawal he decided on was a careful decision.
"We're not doing it precipitously," Mr. Obama said. "We're going to do it in a steady way to make sure the gains that all of you helped bring about are sustained."
Reactions to the plan in Washington didn't break down neatly on party lines, a sign that both parties have splintered in their willingness to support a continuation of the Afghan mission.
Many Republicans, such as Saxby Chambliss (R., Ga.), vice chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, said they feared Mr. Obama's drawdown plan could endanger military gains in southern Afghanistan and prevent the military from ramping up operations in the eastern part of the country.
But Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, the Foreign Relations Committee's top Republican, joined war-weary Democrats in complaining that the planned withdrawal was insufficient. Mr. Lugar told Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was appearing before the panel Thursday, that the Obama administration should abandon nation-building efforts in Afghanistan and focus instead on using counterterrorism strikes to keep al Qaeda and the Taliban in check and to ensure the safety of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal.
Similarly, committee Democrats voiced skepticism about the president's decision, arguing that far more than 10,000 troops should be pulled out this year. Unlike many fellow Democrats, though, committee Chairman Sen. John Kerry (D., Mass.) voiced support for the pace of the withdrawal announced by Mr. Obama. "Though the job is not finished, we have come to the point when this mission can transition," he said.
Adm. Mullen also acknowledged there were also risks in the more aggressive plan originally advocated. "The truth is, we would have run other kinds of risks by keeping more forces in Afghanistan longer," he said.
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